Dublin Tenement Experience, Henrietta Street.

The rise and demise of Dublin is a story you can tell better on Henrietta Street than anywhere else in the city. In the eighteenth century, it was a street of the so-called ‘Second City of the Empire’, home to many sedan chair owners and members of the ruling elite, but in-time it came to define the extreme and grotesque poverty of inner-city Dublin, synonymous with overcrowded tenement life. The 1911 Census shows a street where general labourers made up a sizeable percentage of residents, those who found themselves caught up in the precarious working environment of the day.

Now, 14 Henrietta Street is about to open its doors. This is thanks to the ‘Dublin Tenement Experience: Living The Lockout’ project, a collaborative effort by the Irish Heritage Trust, Dublin City Council and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.

By opening 14 Henrietta Street to the public from early July, Dubliners and visitors alike can explore a house which was home to an incredible 17 working class families at the time of the 1911 census. The website for the experience will go live in a matter of days, and can be visited here.

We’re delighted to post a few pictures from inside no.14, giving you a taste of what to expect. We’ll be running an article or two on Henrietta Street historically during the months of July and August. With the 1911 Census so central to our understanding of this house and those who lived in it, readers might be interested in three CHTM! articles exploring that census. Firstly, we have looked at Atheists and Agnostics in that census, while we’ve also looked at foreign nationals and unusual religions.

I would be very interested in visiting this house.I went on their website to book tickets thinking I could just book say 4 tickets and then treat some friends to a visit but for some reason they want full names email addresses and phone nos of every one attending! Why make a simple process of booking tickets difficult ?.It`s not as if I want to visit The White House! I don`t want to give out my friends phone and email information.Are Ryanair running running the booking office?

Called on on spec on Saturday and we were very well accommodated by the girls at the reception , really enjoyed the experience and loved the interactive living history . Excellent actors , highly emotional and so realistic . Loved every moment and would highly recommend the experience to all , terrific value . Thank you , much appreciated .

I second John’s comment. I just went today (Aug 1st) and it was an unsettling, emotional experience. Highly recommended. They also had quite a few good books for sale, for history buffs. Hopefully in the future this will become something permanent. It would also be lovely to be able to peak inside some of the other buildings!

cant wait to see this as my nanny grew up here she was born in 1920 and her mam and dad lived in 14 hennrietta street, nannys still alive and kicking and id love to bring her but i dont think she would be abel for the trip

Hi,my family lived there too, James Bryan, father of Thomas Bryan, famous for his role in the rising and a member of the forgotten ten, would love to hear from anyone else who had family living in no 14

Pity this only running for such a short time, hard to get tickets now. Wish it was on on going thing, sure visitors to Ireland would love it. Know my cousins in the States would love it however not due for a holiday here until next year.

I tried to get a ticket to visit. Was queueing from 8am with about 20 others. When they opened up there were only 7 tickets available. The rest had been booked on line. This house ought to be kept open as a permanent reminder to everyone,especially today’s school students.I was 11th in the queue.No ticket!

hi , my mam lived there in 13 heneretta st with my granny and granddad also her brothers , Richard, john paddy , sisters bridy, Kathleen ,herself Maryanne Blevins , all passed away now , but I hav many happy memories of heneretta st , I still passed by now and then, can you still visit 14 heneretta st